Alone
by remygeon
Summary: AU. A take on Korra Alone. No one has seen Korra in a year. Asami finds herself in a town in the Earth Kingdom. She locates the Avatar, broken and a regular in the underground fight scene, and she doesn't want to go back. Korrasami.
1. Chapter 1

Alone

Sypnosis: AU A take on Korra Alone. No one has seen Korra in a year. Asami finds herself in a town in the Earth Kingdom. She locates the Avatar, broken and a regular in the underground fight scene, and she doesn't want to go back. Korrasami.

* * *

Chapter 1: Rumour Has It

An earthbender in blue gets slammed in the gut by a disc and he falls off the edge. The crowd goes wild. Asami can hear the commentator screaming in the speakers but she doesn't even remember the names of the teams playing. Mako is out of his seat, spewing fouls. _At least he's enjoying himself,_ Asami thinks.

"I'm gonna go get a drink." Asami stands and heads for the door.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Mako asks, walking to her. She puts a hand up.

"I'll be fine, Mako. You're gonna miss the last round." The crowd cheers again and Mako's attention is back to the game. Asami leaves the private viewing room, leaving Mako yelling on his own.

 _Why did I agree to come tonight_ , Asami wonders. She makes her way to the ground floor and passes the food stalls, heading for the main exit. Despite the destruction Republic City had gone through, the arena was one of the first to get back into business and pro-bending was back in no time. Outside, she takes a deep breath of fresh air. She contemplates on leaving all together but she doesn't have the heart to leave Mako, since he's only back for a few days to accompany Prince Wu on a diplomatic mission. She continues walking until she reaches the railing overlooking the bay.

"It'll take your mind off things." She remembers Mako saying when he asked her to come tonight. "It'll be like old times."

She retrieves a folded piece of paper from her pocket. The edges are torn and there is a coffee stain on the lower right corner when she opens it. It takes her less than a minute to read the letter from top to bottom before folding it back, clutching it to her chest. She looks out into the open sea illuminated by the bright moon, the sound of cheers drowning in the background.

She goes back into the arena and stops by a drinks stall with the least people. Suddenly, 2 burly men in green garb passes by her. They reek of alcohol and are having a loud conversation about the match as they lean heavily on a pillar nearby. Asami tries her best to ignore them and orders a cup of lychee juice for herself.

"The Avatar used to pro-bend here." Asami perks up at the name.

"No way."

"Yeah, she was here for a whole tournament a few years ago. The Fire Fingers or something. And I think they won second place. Which is strange because she's supposed to be the all powerful right?" She's looking at them now. Dreadlocks takes a long swig from his bottle.

"You remember the fight we went to when we were at Agoda? That chick, the one who won, looked a lot like the Avatar you know." Shorty had stuffed his face with nuts and makes a face.

"No she didn't. Why the hell would the Avatar be in some stinkin underground fight club anyway?"

"Think about it. She's missing ain't she? It's not impossible."

"And you're definitely drunk."

Without even thinking, Asami attempts to approach them but jumps when a hand on her shoulder grabs her shoulder.

"I've been looking all over for you." Asami turns around and Mako is standing there. He quirks an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She turns back but the drunk duo are out of sight. She looks out the window and shuffles forward.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mako stands in front of her and puts his hands on his hips to get her attention.

"I… Nothing. Is the match over?" She shakes her head, trying to think clearly. She shouldn't be this excited over a conversation by a couple of drunk meatheads.

"The next one starts in 10 minutes but I have a feeling you're not really enjoying yourself." Asami had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

 _Ya think?_ "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm really burned out from work." She covers.

"That's okay. How about we get something to eat?"

"Yeah, that sounds great." Asami smiles, relieved. She see's the drinks stall lady wave over at her and she hands her way too much money for a cup of lychee juice. She hands the cup to Mako as they leave the arena.

* * *

Asami tosses and turns in her big bed. She chose to stay at an apartment closer to her office but there were nights when the apartment felt just as big and empty as her estate. The worn letter she carries everywhere is on top of her night stand. She looks at it and contemplates reading it one more time but decides against it, rolling the other way.

A million things go through her mind but it always goes back to arena. She realises she isn't going to sleep until she figures it out. She pushes away her blanket and gets out of bed.

She has a map spread out on top of everything else on her work desk, a single lamp the only thing illuminating the room. Agoda was a town in the Earth Kingdom, less than 200 miles west of Ba Sing Se. It's a mining town, one of the biggest in the nation with a growing population of 10,000 people. She can't explain it but her gut tells her that's where she needs to go.

She packs essentials into a duffel bag and remembers to bring the letter, placing it snugly in her coat pocket. She arrives at the air strip before dawn in time to catch the first air ship to Ba Sing Se.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Welcome to Agoda

" _Don't do it, Asami."_

" _What? I'm not going to do anything." Asami folds her arms defensively._

" _I want to look for her as badly as you do but we've been through this."_

" _So you're saying we should give up?"_

" _I'm not saying that. I'm saying there's a reason why we can't find her. She sends letters to her parents so we know she's alive, at least. She doesn't want to be found. And we should respect that."_

 _Asami is about to say something when Mako reaches out and places his hand on top of hers, cutting her off. She purses her lips._

" _Today is exactly one year since she left the Southern Water Tribe alone. I understand that emotions are high. We can go around chasing every rumour we hear."_

Asami recalls the conversation the night before over dinner. She's been on the back of a jeep for the past 2 and a half hours and she's getting antsy. She barely got any sleep in the past 2 days and her nausea is getting worse. Just as she's regretting leaving her comfy apartment, she spots a crossroad and a signboard.

\- Haiyan - 55 miles

\- Agoda - 18 miles

The jeep takes a sharp turn to the right and she fights to keep what's left of her lunch in.

The sun had set by the time she arrives in Agoda. It was a quaint town with dirt roads and two storey shophouses along the street. The driver drops her off in front of an inn in the town centre and she pays him handsomely.

"Do you know where I can find the underground fight clubs?" She asks, only to find the man giving her a strange look and then sputtered a low chuckle.

"I don't know anything about that sort of thing. Even if I did, it aint't a place for a pretty young thing like you." The man says before driving away. She sighs heavily and carries her duffel bag with her into the inn lobby. The young receptionist looks up from his magazine and gives a double take at the new customer. He quickly straightens up and puts on his most charming customer service. If Asami wasn't so exhausted, she would've put the boy down.

"Your room is across the courtyard. May I ask what's a beautiful girl like you doing in our little town?" The boy, Pi, asks as he leans to put one elbow on the counter. He had to be, at most, 17 years old.

"Just passing through." She says, thinking it's probably better if she lays as low as possible. "So what do the locals do around here to blow off some steam?"

"We have a mover theatre down the road. And our very own little casino but it's pretty shady if you ask me."

"That's not really what I was thinking about." She says, leaning closer.

"Are you looking to go dancing? There's a good one my friends and I always go to two streets over. I'll be happy to bring you." Pi says, wiggling his eyebrows.

"That's really nice of you, Pi but I was thinking of fun more of the bending kind. I heard Agoda has a sick earthbending fight scene." Pi grins and looks around the empty lobby.

"You heard right, Miss Asami. Are you a bender yourself?" He straightens and sizes Asami up.

"Nope, but I love to watch."

Asami drops her bag at the foot of the queen sized bed and then drops herself on the mattress. It firm but as her eyes close, she was happy just to be lying down in silence. Pi said the fights don't start until later in the evening so she drags herself into the hot shower. After she's dressed, she lies back on the bed, not caring that her hair was still wet. She picks up her jacket and pulls out the letter. She reads through it one more time.

 _Dear Asami,_

 _How are you? I hope everything went well with your move to the apartment. I can't wait to visit you there. I'll bring Naga and we'll both give your place a good house warming._

She falls asleep with the letter in her hand.

There is a rapping on her door that startles her awake. Her head is heavy but she feels much more refreshed. She peeps through the curtains and opens the door. Pi stands there with his hands behind his back and a quirky smile on his face. They had agreed to meet after his shift.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" He asks, after a short silence. Asami runs her hand through her hair and realises they were sticking up a little.

"No, no. I just took a nap. But I'm feeling much better now."

"Great! Shall we?"

They ate noodles at a sidewalk stall before heading 15 minutes out to a wide street where they entered an alleyway. They stop in front of a big metal door and Pi knocks on it a few times. Words exchange through a small hole in the door before it opens. Once inside, the sounds were similar to those in a pro-bending arena. Yells, bangs, groans. But the size of the room made everything louder and closer.

The space was intimate, accomodating maybe 40 to 50 people and it was packed. There was a cage in the centre of the space, where the ground dipped 30 feet. There Asami saw 2 shirtless men bending the earth beneath them and hurling rocks at each other. Outside the cage were men cheering and waving yuans in the air like their lives depended on it. The seats elevated every row around the circular cage.

"So what are the rules?" Asami asked loudly, trying to get her voice from being overpowered. She and Pi sit in the back rows where they can watch the fight more clearly.

"Tap out or pass out." Pi says, already watching the fight.

"That's it?" The smaller fighter dodges a giant rock that hurled at him. Suddenly, the ground protrudes behind the large bald fighter and knocks him behind the knees and he falls. His opponent sends a fast shot and it meets Baldy's forehead. Baldy's eyes roll back and he drops on his face. The ref calls it and the crowd goes wild.

"Welcome to Agoda, Miss Asami."

Asami sits through a few more matches and she did find underground fighting slightly more entertaining than pro-bending. It was getting late and she decides to walk around to see of she can find who she was looking for. She finds a door that leads to the lower floor which guard had wandered away to watch the fight. She slips in easily and walks through the short hallway before finding what looked like a locker room. She spots some of the fighters from the previous fights. One of them was being treated with waterbending. Asami's heart raced. The healer was facing away but it was definitely a woman with dark hair tied in a pony tail.

She enters the locker room and stands behind the healer. She's been waiting for this moment for over 3 years and for a second she can't bring herself to call out the woman.

"Hey girlie." She hears and she turns around. A skinny man with glasses was looking at her up and down. "Are you new?"

"Uh… no. I was just… looking for the bathroom." Then from the corner of her eye she see's someone coming into view from behind a row of lockers. She's tying white cloth tape on her knuckles.

"Well the bathroom's outside and this is a restricted area. So better get moving before I get someone to do it for you." Glasses say but Asami's eyes are looking over the man's shoulder and at the short haired woman in green. But the eyes are unmistakable.

Upon hearing Chow's shrill voice, Korra looks up to see who was the cause of the commotion. Then her heart stops. Her jaw hangs open. For 2 seconds, they stare into each others eyes, as if not even believing that the other is there.


End file.
